{"id":28909,"date":"2026-07-21T07:53:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T07:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bilnex.io\/en\/free-e-invoice-latvia\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T07:53:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T07:53:06","slug":"ilmainen-e-lasku-latviassa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bilnex.io\/fi\/ilmainen-e-lasku-latviassa\/","title":{"rendered":"Ilmainen e-laskutus Latviassa: Milloin e-osoite riitt\u00e4\u00e4?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In short (TL;DR)<\/h3>\n

If your business sends only a handful of invoices a month to a Latvian state or municipal body, the simplest free route is an e-invoice created through the latvija.gov.lv e-adrese form<\/a> \u2014 Latvia’s official electronic address system for dealing with public institutions online. Structured e-invoicing has been mandatory in the B2G segment (business-to-government) since January 1, 2025, and sending the invoice data to VID became mandatory for B2G invoices from January 1, 2026<\/a>. The B2B obligation between companies was pushed back by an amendment passed on June 5, 2025<\/a> to January 1, 2028. VID’s EDS XML upload and paid operators are mainly channels and add-ons, not stand-alone free solutions in their own right. For occasional invoices, e-adrese remains by far the simplest path.<\/p>\n

What actually counts as an e-invoice in Latvia?<\/h2>\n

Latvia’s accounting law is specific about this: a structured electronic invoice<\/a> is one that is created, sent and received in a structured electronic format that a computer system can process automatically, without a human retyping anything. This isn’t a matter of opinion or presentation. It’s a technical requirement written into the law.<\/p>\n

In practice that means the invoice has to exist as a machine-readable XML file (Extensible Markup Language, a structured markup format software can read on its own), built to the European standard EN 16931 and the Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 specification<\/a>. A PDF invoice, no matter how neatly it’s formatted, does not meet this bar. A PDF is made for a human to read; the law wants a file a machine can read. Emailing a PDF to a Latvian client may still be fine, but only if that client doesn’t fall into the group for which a structured e-invoice is legally required.<\/p>\n

What deadlines actually apply in 2026?<\/h2>\n

This is where most confusion happens, so it’s worth separating the three dates cleanly.<\/p>\n

The B2G segment (business to public institution) has been mandatory since January 1, 2025<\/a>. If your client is a budget-funded or municipal institution, you already need to send a structured e-invoice, not a PDF. For contracts signed before the end of 2025, the law allowed a grace period. But by January 1, 2026<\/a> at the latest, even those older contracts have to move onto e-invoices.<\/p>\n

Separately, from January 1, 2026, sending the e-invoice data to VID (Valsts ie\u0146\u0113mumu dienests, Latvia’s tax authority) also became mandatory for B2G invoices<\/a>. This is a distinct obligation from simply sending the invoice: an invoice can be sent correctly, but the data still has to reach the tax authority separately.<\/p>\n

The domestic B2B (business-to-business) obligation, originally planned to start in 2026, was pushed to January 1, 2028 by the amendment passed on June 5, 2025<\/a>. Between 2026 and 2027, sending B2B invoice data to VID is voluntary; it only becomes mandatory from January 1, 2028<\/a>. So if your clients are private companies, there’s no urgency yet. But it’s worth getting used to the process before it’s compulsory.<\/p>\n

What are the free options, and which one actually works end-to-end?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Option<\/th>\nBest for<\/th>\nWhat it does<\/th>\nWhat to watch for<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
latvija.gov.lv e-adrese form<\/a><\/td>\nOccasional invoices with a simple sales-invoice structure<\/td>\nCreates, saves and sends the e-invoice in Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 format, and forwards the data to VID automatically<\/td>\nRequires an active e-adrese account; every invoice has to be entered manually<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
VID EDS XML upload<\/a><\/td>\nBusinesses whose accounting software can already export XML<\/td>\nAccepts a ready-made e-invoice file in XML format only, it doesn’t create the invoice for you<\/td>\nGood for submitting data, not for building the invoice itself<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
VID API via accounting software<\/td>\nBusinesses whose accounting program is already connected to VID’s E-Invoice API V2<\/a><\/td>\nAutomatic data exchange directly between your accounting program and VID<\/td>\nOnly works if your software provider has already built the integration<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Free plans from private tools<\/td>\nBusinesses that have checked a specific tool’s Latvian XML and VID support<\/td>\nVaries widely from provider to provider<\/td>\nConfirm the tool actually supports Latvia’s XML structure and VID channels before relying on it, never assume it does by default<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Of these four, e-adrese is the only one that’s a genuinely complete, free, start-to-finish solution. The others are mostly transmission channels or assume you already have compatible software in place.<\/p>\n

How do you actually send a \u20ac1,200 invoice to a municipality?<\/h2>\n

Say your business provides consulting services and needs to bill a local municipality for \u20ac1,200. Here’s the practical sequence:<\/p>\n